Samsung Unveils Music Hub Subscription Service for Galaxy S III

Chloe Albanesius
PC Magazine

Samsung today unveiled Music Hub, an all-encompassing music service that will run $9.99 per month and debut on the Galaxy S III.

A free, ad-supported version of the app will also be available.

Samsung promised access to millions of songs from the big four labels - Sony, EMI, Universal, and Warner - as well as several independents.
With the free version of Music Hub, users can buy tracks and albums and listen to 30-second clips of all songs. Purchased music will be stored in the cloud and be accessible from all registered Music Hub devices. Music will also be accessible via the Music Hub Web player at musichub.com.

Those who upgrade to the $9.99 premium version of Music Hub will have access to scan and match technology, similar to iTunes Match. Songs in a user's library that are also available via Music Hub will be matched to decrease upload time. Songs that are not in the Music Hub library will be uploaded from a user's library, and Music Hub is offering up to 100GB of free storage for unmatched songs.

In addition, the paid version of Music Hub offers music purchases plus streaming with no ads or streaming limits. Users can search, create playlists, share songs with friends, and view lyrics and album information.

If you're not sure what you want to listen to, Music Hub also provides access to Internet radio stations. The service allows for the creation of personalized stations based on favorite songs and artists, or you can just browse existing stations. If you find a song you like, tag it for future playback.

Samsung is offering a 30-day free trial of the paid service, plus a free album to new subscribers.

Music Hub was born out of mSpot, the cloud music service Samsung purchased in May. When the acquisition was announced, Samsung said mSpot would become a featured application on Samsung phones and tablets, resulting in Music Hub.

Initially, Music Hub will only be available on the AT&T and U.S. Cellular versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III, but Samsung said it is working to bring the service to more devices.

Those with the AT&T version of the Galaxy S III can download Music Hub from the Google Play store or Samsung S Suggest. Users will need to enter credit card information upon launching the app in order to access the 30-day free trial and/or purchase songs. On U.S. Cellular, users will need to update the pre-loaded Music Hub app on their phones from Samsung S Suggest or Google Play.

Music Hub for Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon has not yet been announced. Additional carriers will be unveiled at a later date, Samsung said.
For more, see PCMag's review of the Galaxy S III and the slideshow below. Also check out our reviews of competing mobile music service, like Spotify for Android, Pandora, and Rdio.

July 31st, 2012
PC Magazine